Planting a small orchard in rough conditions.

[Krizzi]

I have a field that I want to plant a small orchard (8-12 trees) in but I have 2 concerns.

1. I live in a zone 6a high desert with winters that freeze and has little rainfall. I want be feeding the orchard primarily through rain catchment and grey water thus am looking for the most drought hardy varieties and also varieties that handle sandy and rocky soil better. (and/or any tips on how to fix up an area of soil in these conditions)

2. There is a septic leach line on one side of the field. How far away do i need to plant a fruit tree form the line? Ideally I would like to plant no farther than 20 feet from it. what kind of root spread would I be looking at from a pear to an apple to an apricot in these arid and less than ideal conditions?

Thank you!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum! Glad you joined us!

Yiou might get with your county extension agent, in the phone book under county government, to see what fruit trees and varieties they recommend. As one of the members on here likes to say, all gardening is local. What works in one zone 6a might not work in another 6a. We can give what works for us and some opinions, but if you can get with someone local that you can trust, you'll probably be better off.

I don't like to modify the ground where I plant trees. If you fix a good area around the tree, the roots tend to grow only there and not spread out. In a few years, the tree has outgrown its roots and it dies. I think you would have to go real deep and out a pretty good ways modifying the ground to do any real longterm good.

Speaking of which. The roots generally spread out to match the spread of the canopy. But I'd have some concerns if they found that moisture in the leach lines, they'd make an expception and grow some more. As you probably know, the roots will grow into the pipes and plug them. But I don't have any specific experience with that situation. Hopefully someone else will chime in.

Good luck in that climate. The cold and such shoould not be a problem, but the dry can be. And once again,